Tolerance for Ambiguity

7/27/2019 Tolerance for Ambiguity

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stances" (Kottler & Brown, 1996, p. 12). Am biguity tolerance is likewise congru-ent with hum an development as a whole, a necessary component of one's covin-selor development, identity, and effectiveness (Granello, 2000,2002).The conceptualization of ambigu ity tolerance is an even more difficult task.Budner (1962) defined ambiguity tolerance as the tendency to perceive am bigu-ous situations as desirable. Chasnoff (1976) stated that "an am biguo us situa-tion is one that cannot be adequately structured or categorized by an individual"(p. 47). MacDonald (1970) exp ande d the definition of ambiguity tolerance toinclude the tendency of individu als not only to seek out ambiguity bu t also toappreciate am biguity and excel in the performance of ambiguous tasks.

There is an absence of perceived truth by students a t the early stages of devel-opment as counselors. Anxiety and frustration may indeed be expected w henthey are faced with increasingly am biguous concepts of counseling. Faced w iththe challenges and frustrations of not q uite mastering the most basic elementsof counseling at the outset of their academic and professional journeys, m anystudents revert to tried-and-true learning techniques. They may have adop tedand embraced the adage "if at first you don't succeed, try and try again (harder)."The conun drum grows as students discover that by trying harde r to use andmaster skills, they lose the ability to attend to, be authentically present, and helptheir clients. They face further frustrations of not hearing clients, losing opportu-nities to develop relationships with them, and essentially finding the counselingprocess more difficult than they had ever imagined. Earlier learning experienceshave demonstrated that trying harder generally works. They are less able to makethis process work in covinseling. They know that they need to be genuine andempathic: How can people work harder to be themselves? When they attempt todo so, it is likely that stud ents are at the end of their ropes in try ing to sw ingacross the prec ariou s sw am p of skill mastery.

Part and parcel of the struggle for counselors-in-training is the inherentam biguity that exists in learning and m astering counseling skills and thecounseling process itself. The pu rpo se of this article is to concep tualize thestruggles experienced at the outset of the counselor preparation processthrough the framework of ambiguity. The inherent challenges faced by coun-seling stud ents along with a w orking definition of amb iguity tolerance areoffered. The influence of ambiguity on stu de nts' struggles is presented. Con-ceptualizing stude nts ' struggles throug h the framew ork of am biguity ma yhelp counselor educ ators facilitate success am ong em erging counselors intheir journ ey tow ard becom ing skilled counselors.AM BIGUITY AN D AMBIGUITY TOLERANCE


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relationship context. These studies provide a historical perspective of ex-am ining am biguity in the counseling profession but lack a contem poraryfocus on educa ting future coun selors. The precise role of am bigu ity in thecounselor p repara tion process has yet to be ex plored.Most stud ents do not consciously seek out or desire to place themselves insituatio ns that confront their tolerance of amb iguo us conce pts. M any neo -phyte counseling students tend to focus on a core set of counseling skillsand rely on maste ry of these skills. Some of these skills are inheren tly am -big uo us . For exam ple, the directive to "res po nd e m path ically " offers littleconcrete instruction to the beginning counselor. When clients do not respon das the clients in prior learning d id, a heightened sense of frustration occurs.If a beg innin g counselor is m ore comfortable w ith unp redic tability in life,then as a counselor she or he has a greater po tential of thriving in the profes-sion. M acD onald 's (1970) definition can be ad ap ted to exam ine a m bigu itytolerance and help studen ts begin to not view am biguity as something negativebu t shift to em bracing the role it plays in the process. Bu dn er's (1962) posi-tive endo rsem ent of amb iguity may invite counselor education p rogram s topresent m ore opportunities for stude nts to wrestle with am biguity with thegoal of increasing effectiveness w ith co unseling concepts. For exam ple, stu-dents m ay be given m ultiple op portun ities to practice counseling skills inintrodu ctory courses, learning that there are multiple p ath s to effective andtherapeutic interventions. Another o ption may be to expose stude nts to di-verse examples of skill dem onstration throug h videotap ed presentation orrole plays by instructors and practicing c ounselors.THE C ONV ERGE NCE OF ART AN D SCIENCEResearch on the cognitive developm ent of counselor education gra du ate stu -dents d em onstrates that most stud ents enter the training process at a know l-edge level in which they are seeking information in the form of facts andtru ths (Granello, 2000). Granello (2002) applied Pe rry's (1970) mo del of cog-nitive developme nt to graduate stude nts in counselor education and foundthat at the beginn ing of their pro gra m s, most stu den ts we re in a transitionalperiod of multiplistic thinking. M ultiplistic thinking is m arked by a period ofuncertainty, the individual having moved beyond the belief of right and wrongtoward an und ersta nd ing that all know ledge seems to be valid. The transi-tional period in wh ich Granello (2002) found stu dents in her stud y is charac-terized by a belief that these tru ths exist, just that experts (professors) h ave notyet discovered them and will not for some time. It m ay be surmised that thisperiod m ight be fraught with frustration and anxiety wh en trying to deter-


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ing, such as empathy, genuinene ss, and unco nditional positive regard, areperh aps best learned in a trial-and-error process that could indeed prov idea more empowering experience for students altogether (Hill, 1984). Theseskills are perceived as am biguo us because they are abstract and have m ul-tiple interpretations. Cou nselor educa tors likewise attem pt to convince stu-den ts that listening and be ing patient w ith the process will allow m astery toha pp en (Levitt, 2001). This is a challenging a nd p erh ap s seem ingly unfairconcept at this developm ental stage , w hen stud ents are searching for con-crete answers and m ethods.Assisting stud ents w ith finding a balance betw een relying on their ow nintuitions and incorporating the mastery of microskills necessary to be acompetent counselor is a daunting task. Students develop their own uniqu econceptualization of how co unseling work s and their role in the process.Co unse ling has been defined as a combination of art and science (Hill, 1982,1992). Stu den ts m ust recogn ize that they, them selves, are the m ost imp or-tant instruments that they have to work with as counselors (Corey, 2004).They should co ntinually be remind ed that counseling entails an "integra-tion of the professional self and the personal self" (Skovholt & Ronnestad,1992, p . 507). G rad ua te stud en ts in counseling a re academically gifted onentering the program and may be seeking more concrete and book-basedguidan ce. They m ay have relied on academically oriented mo dels of learn-ing and m astery of concepts in their roles as stud en ts. It is therefore chal-lenging and u ncom fortable for them to rely on themselves as the p rim arytool for learnin g and dev elopm ent in their professional p rog ram s.AM BIGUITY RELATED TO C OU NS ELO R DEVELOPMENTThe question of wh at will help stud ent s learn to be effective counselors andun de rst an d coun seling skills is certainly no t new . Increasing self-efficacyand trust in the counseling process are essential elements. The bigger ques-tion we prop ose is the role of am bigu ity in fostering counselor iden tity de-velopm ent an d enh ancing cou nseling effectiveness. Ho w is am biguity tol-erance fostered am ong counselors-in-training to help them better grasp theirroles and functions in a profession that is filled with ambiguous concepts(e.g., genuine ness, em pathy, active listening)?

Faced w ith the frustration of not easily finding an sw ers, regression to ear-lier levels of cognitive deve lopm ent (Granello, 2002) is jus t on e factor to con-sider. It has been established elsew here (e.g., Larson & Daniels, 1998; Levitt,2001) that self-efficacy is a critical piece in cou nselo rs' skill acquisition andeffectiveness. Self-efficacy ten ds to dec rease as stud en ts are first faced w ith


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m ay pla y a part in self-efficacy and skill acquisition. A stud y of practitio-ners found that perfectionism was correlated with lower confidence in theability to m aster com plex tasks tha t elicit mistakes (W ittenberg & Norcross,2001). Because learning coun seling is inhere ntly com plex and stu de nts arelikely to m ake at least a few m istakes a long the way, it is probable that anxi-ety about evalu ation m ay con tribu te to decreases in self-efficacy.The enco urage m ent of reflective th inkin g is also related to counselor de -velopm ent and skill mastery. Stud ents operating from a reflective standpoin tare able to draw reasonable conclusions and know the criteria on whichdecis ions a re ba sed (Griffith & Frieden , 2000). Reflective thin kin g can be aw ay to help stu de nts link theory with their actual counseling p ractice. Stu-den ts are often enco uraged to grapp le w ith the un kn ow n. S em istructuredexperiences can be provided to help them w restle with their u nde rstan dingof counseling concepts (N elson & Neufeldt, 1998). Such practice ma y like-wise provoke frustration among stu dents w ho m ay not readily grasp coun-seling, who w orry abou t "do ing counseling right," or w ho seek concrete gu id-ance on the ambigu ous concepts of counseling.

Students may tend to focus m ore on their ow n discomfort than on listeningto their clients. In the absence of listening, counselo rs-in-training do not hearwhat their clients are telling them. Opportunities to intervene and dem onstrateskill acqu isition m ay thus be lost, and the cycle of self-efficacy contin ues tospiral dow nw ard. Furthermore, student counselors may lose trust in the coun-seling process itself because they do not see im m ediate results or im prov e-ment in either their skills or their clients' presenting issues. The inherentam biguity of the learning process and counseling concepts frustrates or chal-lenges some students to the point of wa nting to give up counseling altogether.H O N O R I N G A M B I G U I T YH ono ring the role of ambigu ity may be a helpful w ay of makin g m eaning ofthe struggles and frustrations m any cou nseling studen ts experience in theirtraining. Perhaps counselor educ ators m ay assum e responsibility for recog-nizing that am biguity does exist as a legitimate p art of stu de nts ' learningprocesses. Am biguity is itself not a new concept in counselor education. Whathas traditionally been labeled resistance, need for rem ediation, or questionsof students' abilities may in fact be symptomatic of ambiguity. To honoram biguity and am biguity tolerance stresses that counselor educators m usttake the time to recognize stud en ts' developm ental need s alongside the in-troduc tion of am bigu ous concepts of counseling.


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all the concepts and details involved . This is a frightening concept for somestud ents , but counselor educators may prom ote their stu den ts' ascendanceto the status already attained by leaders in the field who have learned toem brace am biguity. Kottler (1993) stated this position w ell:You hoped tha t wi th experience you would someday unders tand how counselingreally works, how and why people change, perhaps even come to terms with yourow n past, present, and future. Bad news. No m atter how long you wo rk in this field,you w ill (hopefully) alw ays rem ain in a state of awe and w on der m ent, (p. 26)

How w e help studen ts to work w ith that awe and w ond erm ent is the nextquestion. Are there elements that counselor educ ators m ay infuse to helpstudents trust the counseling process? Specific styles of supervision andclassroom teaching need to be explored to determ ine w hat helps stud entsleam , app reciate, and trust that they have the skills and qualities necessaryto be counselors. By conceptualizing stud en ts' struggles with ambiguity inthe early stages of counseling, counselor educa tors m ay combine traditionalapproaches to counselor education with new, innovative, and applicablepractices that take into account the com mo n concem and challenges am ongso man y eme rging counselors.Recommendations for Counselor EducatorsThe concepts of am biguity and amb iguity tolerance may provoke m ore ques-tions than p rov ide answ ers for counselor edu cators. Perh aps this is a neces-sary step to m aintain our ow n sense of awe and w ond erm ent. Even in lightof this curiosity, there are practices that counselor e duc ators m ay use to en-courage ambiguity tolerance among stude nts.Wrestle with ambiguity. Coun selor educa tors may help stud ents to reframetheir unders tand ing of core skills by add ressin g their purp ose. Budner (1962)pro pos ed that am biguity tolerance includes the tendenc y for individ uals toview am biguou s situations as desirable. It m ay be helpful to expose stud entsto m ultiple m odels of each of the core counseling skills so that stu de nts cansee the man y different forms that the m ode ls can take. Stu den ts ma y thendeterm ine for themselves how e m pathy an d genuine ness may have differ-ent presen tation s, based on different m odels of counseling. As stud ents areexposed to multiple models for each of the counseling skills and grapplew ith these, they process a w ide ran ge of appro ache s. Students should be en-couraged to grapple with the various models and pay attention to which modelsfit them , while realizing that the remain ing m ode ls still have m erit. The real-ization that there is not one model to leam a specific counseling skill enhances


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m ove to Perry's next level of relativistic think ing. On e m ethod of p rep arin gstu de nts to think relativistically may be to teach skills and concep ts beforetheory. In this way, stu de nts ha ve an op po rtun ity to try variou s skills, seehow they feel for them selves, and then use a reflective exam ination in lightof established theories of coimseling. Stud ents m ay th us learn, for exam ple,tha t reflecting feeling is less abo ut being correct than it is abou t identifyingand com m unicating the client's emotions.Reflective learning and semistructured experiences. Reflect ive learn ing expe-riences m ay also help stu den ts to explore their und ersta nd ing of skills andconcepts to create a mo re solid u nde rstand ing of what seems vague an d outof one 's grasp. For exam ple, com pleting reflective w riting assign m ents andsm all-group p rocessing activities related to the dev elop m ent of counselingskills may help s tude nts to embrace the ambiguity inhe rent in the counselor

development process.Increase Ambiguity ToleranceWe propose that counselor educators can use the previou sly mentioned prac-tices to increase ambiguity tolerance amo ng counseling stu den ts. We offer fouradditional practices that may specifically address s tud en ts' tolerance of ambi-guity. First, counselor educators may rely on practice versus exposure to modelsof expert counseling. Many students want to see how counseling is performedby a model, w hich can limit their use of their ow n capabilities and developm entof a personal style. Second, counselor educators m ay them selves more readilyembrace the trial-and-error approach to skill acquisition. For us, this has oftenmeant the abandonment of traditional summative evaluation of skills and morereliance on a formative evaluation that takes into account stud en ts' experimen-tation with different manifestatioris of skills. Third, we propose that laboratoryexperiences with peers be used prior to work w ith clients (i.e., practicum) tofacilitate the trial-and-error method. Additionally, this practice provides stu-den ts with m ultiple opportunities in a safe area to determine w hat works bestfor them as they prepare themselves to be coimselors. Finally, we recommendgroup supervision as a mearis for students to share their personal experienceswith rega rd to skill developm ent and counseling encounters. Group supervi-sion may be an outgrow th of the reflective writing and group processing expe-riences. It also provides an oppo rtunity for studen ts to realize that their peersare often experiencing similar frustrations and concerns. We caution that suchsmall-group supervision requires that students are properly trained to providefeedback to their peers in a constructive and meaningful m anner.


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sion about tbe mystery of counselor skill acquisition. Much work is stillneed ed to further d evelop and u nd ers tan d the role of am biguity in counse-lor developm ent. Am biguity is an inherent pa rt of the counselor prepa rationprocess, and as such we m ay help stu den ts to embrace this concept in theirlearning. Amb iguity tolerance m ust be further develop ed in order for stu-den ts to develop into counselors w ho are not only comp etent but also able toarticulate how they arrived at their own un ique app roaches to counseling.REFERENCESBrams, J. M. (1961). Counselor characteristics and effective communication in counsel-ing. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 8, 25-30.Budner, S. (1962). Intolerance of ambiguity as a personality variable. Journal of Personal-ity, 30, 29-50.Chasnoff, S. S. (1976). The effects of modeling and ambiguity tolerance on interviewbehavior. Counselor Education and Supervision, 16, 46-51.Corey, G. (2004). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (7th ed.). Belmont,CA: Wadswor th .Granello, D. H. (2000). Encouraging the cognitive development of supervisees: UsingBloom's taxonomy in supervision. Counselor Education and Supervision, 40, 31-46.Granello, D. H. (2002). Assessing the cognitive developm ent of counseling stud ents : Ch ange sin epistemological assumptions. Counselor Education and Supervision, 41, 279-293.Griffith, B. A., & Frieden, G. (2000). Facilitating reflective thinking in counselor educa-tion. Counselor Education and Supervision, 40, 82-93.Hill, C. E. (1982). Counseling process research: Philosophical and methodological impli-cations. The Counseling Psychologist, 10, 7-19.Hill, C. E. (1984). A personal account of the process of becoming a counseling processresearcher. The Counseling Psychologist, 12, 99-109.Hill, C. E. (1992). Rejoinder: The art and science of process research. Journal of Counseling

& Development, 70, 744-745.Kottler, J. (1993, March). Finding your way: What they never taught us in graduate school.Guidepost, 25-26.Kottler, J. A., & Brown, R. W. (1996). Introduction to therapeutic counseling. Pacific Grove,CA: Brooks/Cole .Larso n, L. M., & Da niels, J. A. (1998). Review of the co unseling self-efficacy litera ture .The Counseling P sychologist, 26, 179-218.Levitt, D. H. (2001). Active listening a nd c oun selor self-efficacy: Em phas is on one microskillin beginning counselor training. The Clinical Supervisor, 20, 101-115.MacDonald, A. P. (1970). Revised scale for ambiguity tolerance. Journal of PersonalityAssessment, 39, 607-619.Mendoza, B. R (1969). Predicting counselor effectiveness: A multiple regression approach. (ERIDocument Reproduction Service No. ED 035016)Nelson, M. L., & Neufeldt, S. A. (1998). The pedagogy of counseling: A critical exami-nation. Counselor Education and Supervision, 38, 70-88.Perry , W. G., Jr. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. NewYork: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.


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W inborn, B. B., & Ma rtinson, W. D. (1965). The use of am biguity as a technique in cou n-selor education. Counselor Education and Supervision, 5, 35-39.Wittenberg, K. J., & Norcross, J. C. (2001). Practitioner perfectionism: Relationship to ambi-guity tolerance and work satisfaction. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57, 1543-1550.


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Tolerance for Ambiguity